If you have attended any of the curling events during the day, you would have seen school groups with elementary school youngsters cheering on Team Canada. Other schools had their students make signs for some of the other international curling teams and even some got to take photos with the curlers.
Rick Miller is one of the key volunteers making the 2018 Ford Women’s Curling Championships happen. He says engaging youth was a key component of their bid package.
“When we bid this that was a big part of our bid is we had to put in a whole section on the legacy and what it means,” said Miller, a longtime North Bay curler as well.
The organizers along with the curlers like Team Canada Third Kaitlyn Lawes, hope that a few years down the road a North Bay curler at the Scotties or the Brier will talk about how the World Curling event in North Bay in 2018 got them engaged with the sport.
“I mean for me right now we have had so many great opportunities to have success in our sport and now it is about that enjoyment and showing how much fun we are having and meeting as many people as we can and I hope we can help inspire someone to chase their dreams,” she said earlier in the week.
Miller says the big crowd and amazing support at this event will also help the junior curling program in another way locally.
“What one of the big things we are doing, we as the host committee we get all the 50/50 for this event and we have set up a trust for junior curling and to carry it on for the next 10 years and pay for stuff,” he said.
And that is a legacy that Miller and Lawes would likely say is priceless.
